THE PRAYER OF THE UNINITIATED

THE PRAYER OF THE UNINITIATED

There has to be a point where any of us begins to pray to a God that we know little about. I often think those are refreshing prayers. We find one of these in the 24th chapter of Genesis. Abraham sends his servant on a mission that would be impossible without the direction of God. After traveling for weeks he stops outside the town where Abraham's family lived, and prays.

“O LORD, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham. Behold, I am standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. Let the young woman to whom I shall say, ‘Please let down your jar that I may drink’, and who shall say, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels’—let her be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac. By this I shall know that you have shown steadfast love to my master.”Genesis 24:12-14

I don't believe it is wrong for the servant's approach to God to be tentative. He begins by addressing the LORD as the God of Abraham. I believe it would have been wrong for Abraham to pray such a second-hand prayer. It would have been foolish for this servant to continue to pray like that after God had revealed Himself in these events. But at this point he seems to be reaching out to the LORD for the first time. I think his approach was humble and fearful. And even if it lacked faith, it was a step toward firm belief.

This is not merely a prayer for success or blessing even for his master, Abraham. This is a prayer to Know the will of God. He is praying for God to show him the young lady that He had appointed for Isaac. He recognizes that just any girl will not do.

And he is praying that he might know God himself. He prays that he might know God's steadfast love to Abraham and Isaac. And of course knowing that would be a good step toward knowing God. I don’t think this was much different that someone today praying as Fancis Schaffer suggested in one of his books.

“God, if you are real, speak to me.”

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COINCIDENCES

COINCIDENCE?

I have had several striking coincidences this week. I am reminded of something I recently read, and you have read or heard many times. A hard-bitten detective in a mystery novel said, “I don't believe in coincidences.” Accidental coincidences are an unlikely explanation of many things that take place.

This week I wrote a pastor friend whom I have not seen in several years. I said I was praying for God to do more in their services this Sunday than he knew to ask for. He wrote back that for months they had been praying Ephesians 3:20.

“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us;”

This was a divine coincidence.

At about the same time I wrote a blog on God preparing the way for revival. I had not yet posted it when I saw a blog written by a friend in which he prayed for God to do whatever He needs to do to bring about revival in America. I was encouraged by his prayer so similar to my blog. This morning I noticed that today's devotional in John Piper's SOLID JOYS was on the same scripture as my blog.

Let me point to two coincidences in Scripture. One is in the 24th chapter of Genesis that I just came to this morning in my regular devotional reading through the Bible. Abraham sent his servant all the way back to Mesopotamia to find a wife from among his own people for Isaac. The servant makes the great journey coming to a well outside the city. Now finding the right girl seems like an impossible task. He prays for the Lord to show him the girl He has chosen for Isaac by having her water his camels. He had not finished praying when a girl comes to draw a pitcher of water. He asks her for a drink. She quickly agrees, and offers to water his camels. Sure enough, this was Rebekah who came from Abraham’s extended family.

Another is in Mark 14. Jesus sent two disciples into Jerusalem as they came to it for the first time in over a year.

“Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him, and wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ And he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; there prepare for us.”

These things happened just like Jesus said.

Seeing God at work in these situations is more reasonable than telling ourselves, “This just happened.” When we see such coincidences, we need to consider what God may be up to. It is reasonable to assume some things about some coincidences.

GOD ARRANGED THEM.
God is not barred from His creation. He plays an active role in history, and in our lives. When you see something like this you can assume that God is at least as aware of it as you are. And it is worth asking yourself and asking Him if He arranged what took place.

GOD IS SPEAKING.
When you see something like this, you can assume that God put you in the place where you would see it. He could have done these things without our knowing. My friend who wrote the prayer that was so much like my blog wrote me that God often sends us such assurances. It is worth asking what God is saying to you when things like this happen. Abraham's servant and the two disciples sent into the city knew the Lord was speaking to them. God is also speaking to you in these Scriptures. And you need to ask what He may be saying in your situation.

GOD IS PREPARING.
In both of these Bible accounts, God was preparing His children to be ready for what He was yet going to do. We too need to be ready to participate in what God is preparing to do in our day. In the devotional I mentioned, John Piper, in preparing people for Christmas encouraged us to, “build God-centered anticipation, expectancy and excitement into your home — especially for the children. If you are excited about Christ, they will be too. If you can only make Christmas exciting with material things, how will the children get a thirst for God? Bend the efforts of your imagination to make the wonder of the King’s arrival visible for the children.”

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DIVINE PREPARATION FOR REVIVAL

PREPARATION FOR REVIVAL

Looking at the 3rd chapter of Luke, a contemporary application of the prophecy fulfilled in the ministry of John the Baptist struck me. Verses 4-6 read,

“As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,

‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

“Prepare the way of the Lord,

make his paths straight.

Every valley shall be filled,

and every mountain and hill shall be made low,

and the crooked shall become straight,

and the rough places shall become level ways,

and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”

This is what we desperately need in America and in other countries in these days. This needs to be a matter of serious prayer. We need to be listening to God and watching to see what He is doing. And there are preparations that we need God to make in us. We need God to prepare our hearts and our culture for His work in our lives and country. He may very well raise up prophets whose words would cut us to the heart. He might also have to do more radical things in the economy and in our lives to get our attention.

When I read this I think of a freeway built through the mountains. We have flown through mountain passes on the freeway without even considering what went into making the way for us. It took weeks and weeks for pioneers to make it over the mountains in wagons. Our modern automobiles would never get through.

We need God to smooth out the rough by ways of our thinking, to dynamite our cultural mountains, to straighten out crooked paths, to build up the prayer lives of His people for Him to bring revival to our nation.

Such cultural demolition and construction may not be revival itself, but the necessary preparation for all people to see the salvation offered by our God.

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PRAYING TOGETHER IN MARRIAGE

The Scripture I want to look at in this blog actually addresses only men. However, I believe ladies can read over our shoulders and get a firm grasp on some things that we need God to do in our marriages. My experience is that ladies are much better at doing that than men.

The verse is 1 Peter 3:7.

“Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.”

The goal of Peter's admonition points to a great spiritual power afforded to husbands and wives. In Matthew 18:19 Jesus said,

“If two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.”

The depth of unity that can be developed between husbands and wives brings an Earth shaking power in prayer. Need I say that our enemy the devil will do anything he can to hinder our united prayer. Let's look prayerfully at what the Holy Spirit teaches in this verse that will enable us to overcome the barrage of the enemy.

DWELL WITH

Peter begins by telling men, “live with your wives.” There is a mindset related to this. We need to develope an attitude of unity with one another in marriage. It is God's will for the two of you to become one. Thinking together requires time together? We should desire for our unity to be as complete as that of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit bound together in ultimate love. This may be counter productive to say, because such unity is absolutely impossible for us. But I can say, Men, we are to live in union with our wives. We are to bind ourselves to them with the love of Christ.

UNDERSTANDING

Possibly the most crucial thing God tells us here is to live with our wives with understanding. If you think this is easy, you probably haven't tried. You will not think like your spouse. In the 1990s John Grey wrote, Men are from Mars; Women are from Venus. He made a clear point that men and women don't think alike. Although I believe the differences commonly pointed out by social scientists are too uniform and simplistic, we are different. You will not be able to understand your partner by reading a book. You will have to spend time with your wife to begin to understand her. You will have to spend time thinking about what she needs and wants. Most of all you will need to pray about it. If God does not show you how she is thinking, you will remain obtuse. And while this is a life-long endeavor, what God shows you should change your attitudes and behavior. If you are not considerate, you don't understand at all.

HONOR HER

We are to put our wives on a pedestal of the love of God. First, because they are the weaker vessels. I am aware that all women are not physically weaker than men. And there will always be ways in which the wife will actually be stronger than her husband. But there is something precious about her weakness. Treat her like fine china.

Then we are to honor our wives as spiritual equals, “heirs together of the grace of life.” Of course, this is how we begin. But in many, possibly most cases, the wife has matured beyond her husband spiritually. And in every case, God will give each of you strengths and gifts that He has not given the other so you can draw from one another.

The point of all this is that you can pray for one another and pray together. Each person in a marriage ought to have a list of things you consistently ask God to do in your partner. These should include some things you feel like you need from your spouse. They should include things you know your spouse needs, possibly from you. And you need to pray for the purposes God has revealed for the person with whom you are partnered.

And because our lives are so busy, we need to work at finding time to pray together. Every couple may do this differently. You may need to be patient with your partner in this. But make it a goal. You can even pray for God to help you find time and incentive to pray together. Who knows what God will do in answer?

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HOPE IN A WORLD OF EVIL

HOPE IN A WORLD OF EVIL

“We know that we are from God, 

and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.”

1 John 5:19

I don't think we should need the Bible to tell us that we live in an evil world. Can you explain Germany's Third Reich without reference to evil, both in those who planned it and those who did not oppose it? What other explanation can you give for Joseph Stalin putting millions of his own people to death? How many millions died in China's Cultural Revolution or the Killing Fields of Cambodia? How else do you explain mass shootings in schools and churches across America?

Although I suspect some of you reading this would deny it, every human heart is infected with evil. But God has given us hope, even in the face of evil.

Hope In The Law of God
Few people in these days would think of hope coming from the law of God. But it is a great source of hope for those who see it from the right perspective. The law was not given to save us from our sin. The law shows us God's standard of right and wrong. Those who see the law as a means of getting right with God will not find any hope in it. But when we come to the law of God with transformed hearts that hunger to do what pleases God, we find joy in God's laws. The law teaches us what righteousness is.

The Ten Commandments even show us the sin beneath our sins. Let me show you one facet of this. The first commandment is, “I am the Lord your God . . . You shall have no other gods before me.” Deuteronomy 6:5 applies this.

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and all your might.”

The final commandment is, “You shall not covet . . .” In Colossians 3:5 Paul identifies covetousness as idolatry. These two commands frame the 10 Commandments. Whichever command we break shows that we love other things more than we love God. Strengthening my devotion to God goes a long way toward freeing me from the grip of sin.

There is hope in the judgment of God. Relationships depend on righteousness. We could not have them without honesty, decency, and love. Without these things society disintegrates. The law teaches that God will yet judge evil that ruins our world. In the end God will make all wickedness and injustice right. Yale professor, Miroslav Volf grew up in Croatia. In his book, Exclusion And Embrace, he wrote that not retaliating against those who wrong us depends on our understanding that God will eventually judge evil.

“My thesis is that the practice of non-violence requires a belief in divine vengeance . . . Imagine speaking to people whose cities and villages have been first plundered, then burned, and leveled to the ground, whose daughters and sisters have been raped, whose fathers and brothers have had their throats slit…Should we not retaliate? Why not? I say–the only means of prohibiting violence by us is to insist that violence is only legitimate when it comes from God. . . If God were NOT angry at injustice and deception and did NOT make a final end of violence, that God would not be worthy of our worship.”

Hope In The Power of Prayer
We can pray for God to deliver us from the evil lurking in our hearts. I can pray for God to work in the lives of people around me. Our prayers are to be entwined with needs that God shows us in the lives of others.

We can pray for God's forgiveness where it is not being practiced. God hears our prayers to comfort the broken-hearted. Our hearts need to break with the needs of people in a world of evil. I have often been amazed by what God does when I and others pray.

Hope In The Promises of God
Even in evil times we can cling to the promises of God. The powerful affect of God's promises take hold of our lives as we hear and come to know them. Throughout the New Testament we are encouraged by the words, “We know.” Hope blossoms in our hearts as the Holy Spirit helps us understand what God has done for us. 1 John 5:20 continues from the verse I quoted at the beginning of this blog. It said we are from God even though the world is in the grip of the evil one.

“And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.”

If you are struggling with despair because of wickedness around you, you will only break free by focusing on the promises and blessings of God until you begin to worship and praise Him with all your heart.

Hope In Fellowship With God
Evil is always personal. It is crucial to see the words from the Lord's Prayer correctly translated,

“Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”

1 John 5:20 is also personal. God Himself has come to give us understanding to know Him. Hope in a world of evil only comes through personal fellowship with God in Jesus Christ.

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THE HOPE OF CHRISTMAS

THE HOPE OF CHRISTMAS

“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, 

who is Christ the Lord.”

Luke 2:11


Do remember the thrilling anticipation you experienced as a child as Christmas drew near? There is something very appropriate about that thrill. On Christmas we celebrate the hope of human history and of all mankind.

FINAL PREPARATIONS

Luke's Gospel has the fullest account of the birth of Christ. It begins with an angel appearing to aging Jewish priest named Zechariah. We read this from Luke 1:13-17

“The angel said to him, ‘Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.’”

I have an inkling of how this wondrous news struck Zechariah and Elizabeth. My wife and I wanted children from the time we were married. But children didn't come. We went through the ordeals of gynecologists and urologists with no results. After six years, we had pretty much given up. We moved to a different state so my wife went to a new doctor who was thrilled to tell her she was pregnant. Our daughter was a wonderful answer to prayer.

But Elizabeth and Zechariah were far beyond seven years. They were well into old age before God proved that nothing was impossible for Him. It does not surprise me that Zechariah was skeptical even while standing before the angel. When he asked how he could know this was true, the angel answered.

“I am Gabriel. 

I stand in the presence of God, 

and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.”

The words “bring you good news” translate only one word in the original language of the New Testament. It is the word from which we get our word evangelize. The angel was sent to Zechariah with life changing news! His son would be the forerunner to prepare the way for the Lord.

A WONDERFUL PROMISE

Six months later God sent Gabriel to Mary, a young girl in a backwater town in Galilee. He told her she would give birth to a child who would be called the Son of the Most High. Mary asked how she could have a child, since she had not had relations with man. Gabriel answered.

“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.”

This is the climax of everything in The Old Testament. When she went to visit Elizabeth in the hill country of Judea, Mary's very soul magnified the Lord. God was keeping age old promises.

“He has helped his servant Israel,

in remembrance of his mercy,

as he spoke to our fathers,

to Abraham and to his offspring for ever.”

Isaiah 9:6 reads,

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given.”

It is important to see that the child was born on this Earth, but the eternal Son was given. John 1:1-5 speaks of Jesus when it declares,

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men.”

THE FINAL ANNOUNCEMENT

The final prophecy of Christ's birth in the Old Testament determined the place He would be born. Micah 5:2 says,

“But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,

who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,

from you shall come forth for me

one who is to be ruler in Israel,

whose coming forth is from of old,

from ancient days.”

The best known announcement of the birth of Christ was to a band of anonymous shepherds near Bethlehem. You can probably imagine yourself with those shepherds trying to stay awake when the angel appeared.

“In the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, 'Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.'”

Immediately the angel was joined by an entire angel army.

“And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest,and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!'”

The shepherds must have stood there in stunned silence before one of them said the obvious. “Let's go to Bethlehem and see what the Lord has told us about.” When they arrived, they found Mary and Joseph and the baby who was actually lying in a manger. They went away telling everyone what they had seen as the angel had told them. And everyone who heard it marveled. Surely no one was as amazed as Mary. Luke 2:19 tells us.

“Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.”

We too can ponder these marvelous events.

When their days of purification according to the law were completed, they took the child to present Him to the Lord and make sacrifice. There was a man in the temple named Simeon. The Lord had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Christ. He met Mary and Joseph when they brought the child Jesus into the temple. He took the baby into his arms and praised God.

“Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,according to your word;for my eyes have seen your salvationthat you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,a light for revelation to the Gentiles,and for glory to your people Israel.”

Luke 2:29-32

LAST MINUTE COMPLICATIONS

Of course, God knew that the powers of this world would oppose the gospel and the kingdom of God. Mary would pay a terrible price. Simeon said to her,

“Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

Mary would stand beneath the cross and endure something of the price her son paid to redeem our world. Everyone is not happy to see signs that God who created is intervening in our world. The good news reveals what is in the hearts of all who hear it to this day.

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PRAYING WITH A CLEAR MIND

I have said, I want to be clear headed enough that I am still able to pray for people around me, even when I am completely disabled physically. But many of you will identify with something that has been happening to me. I will be talking about something that interests me and won't remember the name of someone I have read and respected for years. Or I will step out into our garage, but won't remember why I am there. Last week someone asked me if that was caused by chemotherapy. I don't know. Whatever the cause, I have begun to work at preserving my mind.

Many people do things to this end. A friend recently told me he plays Sudoku. His wife works crossword puzzles. Other people play mind games found on luminosity.com. Last year my wife and I went to The Cowboy Poetry Gathering at Elko, Nevada. There I met an aging man whose name I can't remember. He said he started writing poetry because his doctor told him it would help maintain his ability to think and remember.

Over 30 years ago, David Snowden chose a small group of nuns as subjects for a study on aging and brain deterioration. Through the years, the study has grown to include nearly 700 sisters and monks across the United States. Many of these people continued to be sharp well past 100 years of age. Some had remained mentally sharp even though the brain pathology from autopsies showed that they had full blown Alzheimer's. The articles that I read about this give only one reason. All of these people had continued to be intellectually active. I would also point out what researchers did not mention. The nuns also prayed extended, formal, daily prayers.

I admit that all these things that I have mentioned must be helpful. But I doubt if any of them is foolproof. Still, I need to do something. And what I have begun is proving to be a blessing in my life. I am memorizing scripture. I have actually done this some since I was a teenager. And I always led churches in scripture memorization. But I am doing more now than ever before. And I am using a different system than I have used in the past.

This has to be incorporated into my daily devotional times. I read the same chapter of Scripture every day for a week. I memorize a portion of the chapter each day. (Longer chapters require a week and a half to memorize.) The next week I go on to the next.chapter. Every third week I memorize a chapter from the Old Testament. Although it does not take as long, it seems I have to re-memorize each segment every day. I review a chapter for two weeks. I know this is enough to put many of you off. But I need to tell you, God blesses me more as I review or re-memorize those verses than anything I can remember doing.

Slowing me down is crucial for thinking, understanding, and hearing the voice of God. As I do this God overwhelms me with peace and an assurance of His nearness. Again and again, God has shown me what He is saying to me as I go over these verses. And I am thrilled with joy, wonder and praise as I have never been before.

I fear a couple of terrible results from my writing about this. First, some of you will be impressed with me rather than, God and God's word. Next, some of you will be put off by the very idea of this. That will be sad. Many of you would be blessed far more than you know, if you were to try it or something like it. I would like some response from you to these ideas. And I pray some of my readers will try Scripture memory for your mind and for your soul.

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WATCH WITH HIM

WATCH WITH HIM


In that most intense time, as Jesus and His disciples gathered in the garden where He was arrested, He told us to watch and pray. What does He mean by telling us to watch, to watch and pray? Look with me at these verses from Matthew 26.

“Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, 'Sit here, while I go over there and pray.' And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, 'My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.' And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, 'My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.' And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, 'So, could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.'”

In this passage our Lord calls us to Watch with Him. When Jesus first told His disciples to watch while He prayed, they might have assumed He was telling them to watch with their physical eyes for their enemies to come. And that may have been a small part of what He meant. But He did not simply tell them to watch so He could devote all His attention to prayer. He called them to watch with Him. He was inviting them to enter into His spiritual insight. Jesus is telling us to be alert for spiritual insights in and around us.

Our Lord is calling you to spiritual insight in your situation. When we prayer-walk, we pray with our eyes open. When you come to a house with children's toys in the yard, you automatically pray for their children to be protected and drawn to God. I remember seeing a trash can overflowing with liquor bottles and other signs of dissipation. I prayed for God to deliver the people living there from bondage, and all the heartache related to it. But beyond what we easily see, we seek God to show us what to pray for at every house, or school, business we pass. Any time we pray we open our hearts for God to show us things we need to see in our situations, and to see them from His perspective.

Jesus calls us to spiritual insight into our own hearts.

When we watch and pray God will show us where we are vulnerable to the enemy. This does not sound fun to us in our worldly nature. But it is absolutely crucial in the midst of spiritual warfare. Jesus told Peter to watch and pray lest he fall into temptation. But he was too busy declaring anding his stalwart faith to seek God's power in his life.

As we pray we enter the fellowship of insight. We don't just watch. We watch with Him. We connect to our Lord's spiritual insight. We see with His eyes. We understand with His mind. When we pray with others, we come near Him with them and we begin to share one another's insights.

I am just beginning to scratch the surface of what Jesus is calling us to do and see as we watch in prayer. What is God showing you about watching?

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VISIONS AND DREAMS

Have you considered that God may speak to you in visions or dreams? Throughout the Bible God appears or speaks to people in visions and dreams. On the day of Pentecost in Acts 2:17 Peter quoted from the end-time prophecy of Joel.

“And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.”

This is beyond my comfort zone even though I admit that God has spoken to me in dreams. But I have never heard a voice like the boy, Samuel. I have never had a vision like Zecharia or Mary in Luke 1. Actually, I am not sure these should not be called appearances rather than visions. For the most part, the Bible does not make a distinction between a waking vision and a dream in the night. In Genesis 46:2, we read,

“And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, ‘Here I am.’”

In Numbers 12:6 the Lord says,

“Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream.”

There seem to be two types of dream by which God speaks to people. The Lord, or the Angel of the Lord, may appear to someone in a dream. As Paul was led into the city after being confronted by Jesus on the road, the Lord spoke to a man named Ananias in a vision, saying he was to pray for Paul’s eyes to be opened. In the shipwreck in Acts 27, Paul told the others on the ship, “This very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship. He said, ‘Do not be afraid.’” We cannot know whom God will speak to like this. And although the Bible clearly teaches that God speaks to His children in many ways, He is sovereign over how and when He speaks.

God can also speak in riddle-like dreams as He did to Pharaoh in Genesis 41 or to Nebuchadnezzar in the Book of Daniel. In Numbers 12 God told Miriam that He spoke to prophets in dreams that were like riddles. But He spoke to Moses face to face. A complicated dream is not necessarily a bad thing. When God speaks in this kind of dream you have to struggle in prayer to understand what God is saying. In Genesis 41, Pharaoh said to Joseph, I hear that you can interpret dreams. Joseph answered, “It is not in me, but God will give Pharaoh the meaning.” God gives the meaning of dreams. Daniel said the same thing to Nebuchadnezzar. “No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers can show the king the mystery, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries.” God uses our struggle to understand to develop faith in us.

I would not put dreams on the same plain as Scripture. Nor would I put God speaking to me in a book or a sermon, or in my prayer time, on the level of Scripture. But the Bible teaches us about these things. God is in charge of how He speaks.

I am not sure God speaks to us in every dream. But I believe He will let you know when He is speaking to you. As you sense His presence and hear His voice, He will grow your faith. There is no limit to what God is able to do through you as you listen and learn to trust Him.

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LISTENING IN CIRCUMSTANCES

This is the 4th entry on developing faith by listening to God, adapted from my upcoming book, FAITH, Risking and Resting on The Word of God.

God is not limited in the ways He speaks to us. Hebrews 1:1 says that in the past, God has spoken at many times and in many ways. Sometimes God speaks through circumstances. Like the other ways we hear His voice, this must be prayerful. In John 5:19 Jesus told us something about the miracles He did.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.”

Jesus saw His Father at work all around Him. And He joined His Father in His work. He explains this a little further in the next verse.

“For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing.”

As you come into situations, already praying for people around you, already praying for God's hand in the circumstance, God will show you what He is doing. 

I think it is important that I keep each of these brief. So I will stop here. Feel free to ask questions or make comments on this. I am anxious to get to the next and final blog in this series. To be honest it has been the most difficult for me to write. It will be on God speaking through visions and dreams.

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LISTENING IN PRAYER

This is the third in a series of blogs on developing faith by listening to God, adapted from my upcoming book, Faith, The Infinite, Ultimate Love of God.
We sometimes think of prayer as a monologue where we tell God what is on our hearts. But prayer is far more than that. Prayer is crucial among the ways that we hear the voice of God.

We listen to God by PRAYING THE WORD.

Listening to God in Scripture cannot be severed from listening in prayer. If you wish to hear God's voice in Scripture, you need to read prayerfully. We need to understand that God is present with us. He personally speaks to us through His word and prayer.

We listen to God by PRAYING TOGETHER.

Much prayer in the New Testament is corporate. Wouldn't it have been wonderful to join one of those power-filled prayer meetings in the Book of Acts? I sometimes call praying together, "Fellowship on Fire," or simply the fellowship of the Spirit. Everything we do as the church gathers should be the fellowship of the Spirit. Our services should be bathed in continual prayer. You will discover that God speaks to and through His children when we pray together. I often have the sense of God speaking to me as others around me pray. That is especially true in small group prayer meetings.

We listen to God by spending TIME IN PRAYER.

The lack of time can be a major barrier to prayer. In the garden before the cross Jesus asked His disciples if they couldn't even pray for an hour. Some of the power and blessing of prayer needs time. We are only given so much time. And other things swallow up time we could spend in the presence of God. How much time do you spend watching television, checking your email, playing video games, or in some other recreational activity? If you are serious about developing faith that will move mountains, you will have to replace the time invested in other things by spending more time with God.

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HEARING GOD IN HIS WORD

Listening to God begins with the Bible. God will speak personally to you through His word. James 1:21 calls us to receive with meekness the word of God grafted into us. God will graft His word into your heart.

Let me suggest 4 disciplines that are essential to developing faith from God's word in your life. First, READ it. Read it prayerfully. Read it hungrily. Read it consistently.

Next, MEMORIZE Scripture. You may begin by memorizing verses that stir your heart. You could start trying to memorize chapters systematically going through whole books, first of the New Testament and then of the Old. If you could memorize a chapter a week, you could memorize the entire New Testament in less than four years.

All of my adult life I have encouraged and helped adults memorize Scripture. I have helped quite a number who were convinced they could not memorize. Let me give you several steps to memorizing a verse or a passage.

1. Commit to memorizing. If you are determined, you will succeed.
2. Ask God to help you memorize. 
3. Read it aloud. It is much more difficult to memorize something silently.
4. Repeat it over and over until you can say it without looking. 
5. Continue to review what you have memorized. I mark the day when I memorize a verse, and review it every day for a month.

The third discipline in listening to God in the Bible is to THINK about it. After you have memorized a verse you will be amazed at new things you come to understand from it. I recently memorized a passage whose meaning puzzles me. I meditate on it some everyday. I still do not understand much about this passage, but God ministers to me through it.

The final discipline for opening the word of God so that God can speak to you through it is, OBEY it. A major key to understanding the word of God is a willingness to obey. As we learn to obey small things in Scripture, He will reveal greater things to us.

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LISTENING FAITH

In the next few weeks I would like to share with you something that I wrote in my soon to be released book, FAITH, Risking and Resting on The Word of God.

LISTENING FAITH

Jesus made it clear that there is absolutely nothing that God cannot do through you when you trust Him. He repeatedly told us we could do things like casting mountains into the sea.

Of course one important question is, “How do you develop miracle-working faith?” We Cannot begin by using our imagination. Don't try to imagine what great and wonderful things you could do for God. Instead, learn to listen to what God is telling you. Isaiah 55:3 calls to us.

“Incline your ear, and come to me;

hear, that your soul may live.”

The main reason we do not hear the voice of God is that we are not listening. This week our pastor ask me to lead the Call to Worship in our Sunday morning service. I began by asking people to pray something I think we should pray every time we enter a worship service. “Father, let me hear your voice this morning.” I went on to say I don't think it offends God for you to pray something like, “God, if you are real, let me hear your voice.” Are you listening for the voice of God?

We must lean in to hear His voice. That is what God meant in Isaiah by “Incline your ear to me.” You already incline your ear to the world. You watch TV, listen to the radio, and surf the internet. You may even read books from time to time. Do you ever listen for the voice of God? In the next few sequential blog posts I will deal with how God speaks to us. And I encourage you to begin to listen as He speaks to you through His Son who walked upon the Earth and changed all of history. Romans 10:17 tells us that faith comes from hearing the word of Christ.

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WAGING SPIRITUAL WAR

I have recently been made more aware of serious problems in our nation, and of spiritual attack in the lives of people that I love. These things are frustrating. And one of the most frustrating factors in my seeing these things is that I cannot see anything I can do to have any appreciable effect. But while I cannot help in the physical realm, I know I can have great effect in the spiritual realm where the real battle will be fought. Paul wrote about this in 2 Corinthians 10. Verse 3 says as much.

“For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh.”

I am not exactly sure how to apply this truth. Paul is warning people who have not repented of sins against the church that he is coming with spiritual authority. But how he applies this seems to fit a much larger set of circumstances, including those that I am dealing with right now. Look at the following verses. Verse 4 reads,

“For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.”

Paul says the weapons of spiritual warfare are not fleshly efforts. They do not come by screaming at people, although God can speak thunderously. On a broader scale, they are not political, although they can affect governments. When Paul says they demolish strongholds, he is talking about the strongholds of demonic forces in the world and in the lives of people, sometimes even believers. This certainly describes things I have seen in the lives of people who cannot seem to let go of attitudes that are destroying them and others. It also applies to some who are being attacked by jealousy, intrigue, and infighting among colleagues. And I can see this in the culture of my own country, and around the world.

We see something of how this works in verse 5.

“We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.”

How do we confound ungodly arguments? Let me point out three crucial factors. The first is love. God's love for people will often overcome opposition. When we speak of spirituality, we have to include all the fruit of the the Spirit listed in Galatians 5. But possibly the most powerful of them is agape, the infinite, ultimate love of God in our lives. Next is spiritual knowledge. This must begin with the gospel by which lives are transformed. Sometimes this means simply speaking the truth even when it is opposed. When he was tempted by Satan in the wilderness, Jesus just quoted Scripture. He did not convince Satan, but Jesus was not swayed by the temptation.

Finally, and many ways most important is prayer. In Ephesians 6:10-17 Paul gives us what are mostly defensive weapons. But in verse 18 he concludes with the power of prayer.

“Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints.”

We break the power of the enemy by prayer. We extend the Kingdom of God by praying. And we can trust the power of God as we become more and more intimate with Him. You may not see revival as you pray. But you can know God is at work. And you never see revival without extraordinary prayer. You may not avoid evil in this world. Abraham interceded for Sodom. But it was still destroyed. Jesus could have avoided the cross. But I am so thankful that He did not. You will not be able to to keep the Antichrist from rising in the last days. But you will be able to endure all that comes upon the Earth. And you can build a shelter of prayer around those you pray for. And again and again you will turn the hearts of those for whom you pray back to the God of the Bible.

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